Links To The Present: April 29, 2010

“In the Bulls series, I don’t think the Cavs were expecting Chicago to play as long and as hard as they did. And the Cavs had to ratchet it up to stay with them. But they know what it’s going to be like with the Celtics. And going into the series as the favorite is also something they’re going to have to live up to.” [Austin Carr’s Blog]

“Asked if the Cavs did anything differently against the outspoken Noah in the close-out game, O’Neal dismissed the disser as an irrelevancy. He said the easy baskets Noah got on the weakside (the side away from the ball) came on rebounds or on passes after O’Neal helped out on Derrick Rose’s penetration. Rose and Kirk Hinrich were the Cavs’ focus, he said.” [Bill Livingston on Shaq]

“Finding the problem was key because James was unsure what was causing him stinging pain and numbness in the arm. Second, the diagnosis is not serious and the Cavaliers said James is not expected to miss any time with the injury.” [Brian Windhorst on LeBron’s Elbow Exam]

“It still feels as if the Cavs are a work in progress, not hitting on all cylinders. Before Tuesday’s game, Cavs coach Mike Brown lauded the play of James, Jamison and Mo Williams, but said O’Neal and West had yet to get going.” [Marla Ridenour on the State of the Cavs]

“And if the Cavs are comfortably ahead at that point, I believe James will point the way with his left hand only. Who can’t wait for Saturday to roll around Raise your good hand or your sling. Either one counts.” [Bud Shaw]

“This is a perfect series for this year’s Cavaliers. They have a habit of playing down to lower-level teams, but rise up and play beautifully against the ‘elite’. Boston, despite its weak regular season finish, still has the polish and image of a championship team. I expect the Cavaliers to dismantle the Celtics with speed and aggression in game 1, followed by a tough win in game 2. Game 3 in Boston will be the hardest of the series. But I can’t see Cleveland losing inspiration like they did against the Bulls in Round 1. This one could go only 5, but I’m still a little intimidated by the Celtics on their home floor, simply because I’m a Cleveland sports fan and give way too much credit to the team we’re playing.” [P.D. Parr on The Celtics/Cavs matchup]

“I can’t help but think about how much the roles are reversed from last year when the Cavaliers flew through the first 2 rounds before facing a buzz saw in the form of a tough battle-tested Magic team. Hopefully that will also reverse the fortunes of last year. I don’t mean to get ahead of myself here, but it helps to put these struggles into context and I only bring it up now as some food for thought as the Cavaliers go through this vicious 2nd round matchup.” [Andrew @ WFNY]

“Defensively, I’m fine with that line-up matching up against the Cavs’ small groups outlined above. Offensively, though, I worry that the team can go through cold stretches when Rajon Rondo and Tony Allen share the court. We saw this against the Heat, when Erik Spoelstra went to a zone immediately when he saw the TA/Rondo back court and stuck with it until Doc replaced either Rondo or TA with a shooter.” [Zach Lowe – CelticsHub

23 Responses to “Links To The Present: April 29, 2010”

Do people think the Celtics really upped their game in the post season or you reckon the Heat were just a miserable team? I tend towards thinking the latter; aside from Wade no one even turned up for that series.

Wade showed up, definitely. The dude does not quit (which of course makes it painful to watch him on a mediocre or bad team).
However, that may give the Celts confidence they didn’t have before – it’s difficult to tell how this series will turn out, although the Cavs still appear to have an advantage on paper (and there is no reason for them to not get up for the Celtics).

By the way – at the beginning of the season, the consensus around here was that Delonte was the key to the championship this year. With Jamison as well as West’s ineffectiveness in the Chicago series, has this opinion changed for people? (I would tend to think that we’d need extended runs of good from Shaq and Mo specifically to compensate for a mediocre Delonte…and that’s not too different from relying on Drew Gooden and Damon Jones to take you to the Finals…quite possible with Lebron but a scary scary prospect…)

Dwayne Wade at No. 1? Apparently LeBron (No. 3) didn’t score high enough on the “my ass is sitting at home watching the playoffs because my team could only win one game when most people picked us push Boston” scale. Espn.com is so fail and they don’t even know it.

What makes me so made is if LeBron would have been talking to his hand, all we would have seen were articles discussing how LeBron’s childish antics will never win him a championship and that he might be mildly retarded. But Wade does it and it’s a Kodak moment.

The Heat are….bad. I was hoping a long time ago that is who the Cavs would get to play in round 1. When you literally have one single man on your team who can score, you will NEVER beat a good a team (shh, just forget about LeBron vs. the Pistons). Wade got less help than maybe anyone I can remember in recent memory. Just an atrocious team around him. Beasely, while still young, is on the verge of being labeled a bust. It’s getting close.

I agree Colin. I do grow weary of seeing Cavs highlights that consist of only LeBron, therefore perpetuating the notion that this team is still LeBron and the other guys.

Mat, I’ve seen more than one person here say that Andy has possibly been the second most important player on the team. Personally, I think it’s Mo still, with Jamison a close third.

I read that SImmons article and have to agree with him on Wade. Now, if Wade loves the city of Miami then by all means stay. But I know if I were him, I’d absolutely want to leave not because of my team, but because of my fans. The city of Miami has 0 love for the Heat. They very, very rarely sell-out, and they have one of the best attractions in the league. I’d want to play in a city that actually enjoys watching it’s basketball team.

So, after the Mavs got eliminated, I think a question needs to be asked. This team had a bunch of talent. A ton. They shouldn’t have lost in the 1st round. So now, we have to ask, can you win a title with Dirk as your best player? I dunno the answer, but I think the question is viable at this point.

Yes probably still now. Dirk was still a top 7 guy this year, which I think is good enough. The problem was Kidd died in this series, and Butler was drastically overrated during the trade. And Carlisle kept playing J.J. over Beaubois. Dirk is still good enough now, but everyone looked too much into that trade and put too high of expectations on the Mavs. Butler was an absolute shot-jacker this series, and in the game he was actually hitting, they won easily. I think you have to blame Butler and Kidd. Don’t give Dirk the same treatment that we all hate that LeBron gets, where he plays out of his mind but the team losing is ALL on him, even if he did all he could. I wouldn’t say Dirk played out of his mind like LeBron has before, but he played legitmately great and he again couldn’t get enough consistent help

Rich, I just saw what you said last thread about me and Jamison. I’ll admit he’s been great in the series. All I wanted out of him was efficiency and he’s shooting 59% TS in the playoffs and I’ll take that all day. I’m still worried about the future, making sure we stay young enough to give LeBron and the franchise ample opportunity to win multiple titles. Because when we look back at LeBron’s career the same way we do with Jordan, Bird, and Magic, we need LeBron to have more than the 2010 title on his resume.

Right now, Jamison was worth the trade, just for his great work in the Bulls series. Still worried about the future, though, but I’ll take it one year at a time.

I agree with Bradley. Shawn Marion is a shell, of a shell of his former self. Their entire starting line-up is 30 or older. I don’t really see how someone could put this on Dirk (27 points a game, 55% from the field). Dirk is getting older, but I still think you can win a championship with him. Will the Mavs as they are currently constructed? Probably not.

What I can’t and couldn’t figure out was Carslile (sp) unwillingness to play Haywood the bulk of the minutes over Dampier. Even tonight when he started, he still played the exact same amount of minutes. To me, he is a much better player and should have gotten the majority of the minutes from the day he arrived.

I look at this Mavs team, and I see some of the most talent top to bottom in the league. The guys coming off the bench were: Dampier, Barea, Beaubois, and Terry. Combine that with there starting line-up, and I just don’t know how or why they didn’t beat the Spurs, especially when they also had the best player in the series. It just makes me question Dirk, even if it isn’t deserved.

If I were them, I’d make one more run at it next year, with this group of guys being together the whole year. But they BADLY need a young pass first PG imo. Terry doesn’t fit that role. Kidd no longer fits that role. I can just imagine Rondo on this team, with all the offensive talent and shooting…my oh my.

Also…they could have used Stevenson. He plays ok defense, and they could have tried him out at least one good time on Ginobli to see how it would work. Or at least try him on George Hill.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not blaming this series on Dirk. He was by far their best player, but that is the point. Can you win with HIM as your best player? If everyone on the team is a notch below him, does that mean everyone on the team is to low in order to win a title. Certainly, if one were to point fingers at the reason the Mavs lost, you’d point to Kidd and then Marion. Although I don’t know if we were actually expecting anything from Ghost Shawn Marion.

about the simmons article – LeBron has been the best player in the playoffs so far. Sometimes it’s just not interesting to make LeBron number 1 on lists. There was a dime mag article earlier this year called “bombs away” and it was the guys in the nba with unlimited range. Kobe and JR Smith were on there…NO LEBRON. I mean, it’s almost comical given all the half-court shots he hits that look like regular jumpers. But just an example of people that get tired of LeBron dominating.

I’m not sure you can win with Dirk as your best player unless you have another very good player on the same team, which the Mavs do not. They have some nice role players, but they don’t have a second stud.

BradleyH – I don’t really worry about Jamison declining. He is tall and can shoot – two things that lead to very long life spans in the NBA. Also, he keeps himself in great shape, and he understands the game. He doesn’t rely on athleticism too much either. He is just so creative. He, Andre Miller, and Jason Kidd are going to be dominating rec leagues until they are 90 years old.

About Varejao’s importance – I do think he is the second most important player on the Cavs. His poor play is one of the reasons the Cavs struggled at times with the Bulls. Jamison and Mo are very important as well.

How many more players can you put around a guy though and be under the cap? Butler and Terry are fairly big money guys…there isn’t a huge amount of space left to go up unless we are talking max deal, and then it’s a question of whether or not Dirk is the best player on his team at that point.

They have absolutely no cap room this summer, but it will be interesting to see if Cuban can pull off some sort of move to bring in Boozer or Bosh. I can’t see it happening, but the man will try.

The Lineup: (Click for Author’s Archive)

Nate Smith is an Associate Editor. He grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, and moved to NE Ohio in 2000. He adopted the Cavs in 2003 and graduated from Kent State in 2009 with a BA in English. He can be contacted at oldseaminer@gmail.com or @oldseaminer on Twitter.

Tom Pestak is an Associate Editor. He's from the west side of Cleveland and lives and (mostly) dies by the success and (mostly) failures of his beloved teams. You can watch his fanaticism during Cavs games @tompestak.

Robert Attenweiler is a Staff Writer. Originally from OH, he's long made his home in NYC where he writes plays and screenplays (www.disgracedproductions.com) some of which end up being about Ohio, basketball or both. He has also written for The Classical and the blog Raising the Cadavalier. You can contact him at rattenweiler@gmail.com or @cadavalier.

Benjamin Werth is a Staff Writer. He was born in Cleveland and raised in Mentor, OH. He now lives in Germany where he is an opera singer and actor. He can be reached at blfwerth@gmail.com.

Cory Hughey is a Staff Writer. He grew up in Youngstown, the Gary, Indiana of Ohio. He graduated from Youngstown State in 2008 with a worthless telecommunications degree. He can be contacted at theleperfromwatts@yahoo.com or @coryhughey on Twitter.

David Wood is our Links Editor. He is a 2012 Graduate of Syracuse University with an English degree who loves bikes, beer, basketball, writing, and Rimbaud. He can be reached on Twitter: @nothingwood.

Mallory Factor is the voice of Cavs: The Podcast. By day Mallory works in fundraising and by night he runs a music business company. To see his music endeavors check out www.fivetracks.com. Hit him up at Malloryfactorii@gmail.com or @Malfii.

John Krolik is the Editor Emeritus of Cavs: The Blog. At present, he is pursuing a law degree at Tulane University. You can contact him at johnkrolik@gmail.com or @johnkrolik.

Follow Me On Twitter

General NBA

Other Places To Find My Work

The Comment Monster

A monster lives in the comments section of Cavs: The Blog, and he likes to feed on comments. We have very little idea about when he will strike. What we do know is that comments with 2 or more links will get filed into the spam folder, as will comments with foul or discriminatory language. The comment monster also seems to enjoy extra-long comments, so if you have a long comment, you may want to press copy before submitting a long comment and break it into multiple pieces if the monster eats it. If you are having particular trouble with the monster, email one of us and we will talk to him for you.